The present study assesses a new treatment for autism, signed speech. Signed speech treatment involves teaching autistic children sign language and imitative speech, integrating the two skills, and then gradually fading out the sign language. The teaching of sign language allows autistic children to begin communicating spontaneously via manual signs; the teaching of imitative speech allows autistic children to produce utterances but does not, even when followed by training in the use of the utterances for communicative purposes, seem to yield the spontaneous use of language. The hope is that when sign language and imitative speech are integrated in signed speech, and after the sign language is then gradually faded out, autistic children will retain both the ability to communicate spontaneously that sign language promotes and the vocal capabilities that imitative speech yields, that is, the spontaneous use of spoken language. To assess signed speech treatment one group of autistic children will be taught signed speech, another will be taught only sign language, and the two groups' progress will be compared.